Corruption

Issue: Liberti Scandal Sparks A Wider Probe.

November 5, 2006

If this is the season of political scandal in Palm Beach County, it all started with the explosive charges against Ray Liberti. The once-respected West Palm Beach city commissioner was indicted on federal charges of using his position to threaten businesses into selling their operations for a discount.

Liberti's take: $66,000 cash and an expensive watch. His 18-month prison sentence, like the mere five years disgraced former County Commissioner Tony Masilotti faces for crooked land deals, seems like a slap on the wrist.

But, like the stink Masilotti's case has raised, worse than Liberti's sleazy conduct was what it suggested about city politics. Liberti also was secretly on the payroll of the developer he and other commissioners picked to lead the $120 million City Center project. So was Liberti the only city leader with a warped view of ethical business practices, or is quid pro quo the standard in city contracts?

State Attorney Barry Krischer intends to answer those questions. As the feds continue their investigation into county business practices, Krischer has launched his own probe into city government dealings, empanelling a grand jury to find out whether city officials expect to be rewarded before anything gets done in West Palm.

By the end of November, Krischer expects more than 100 businesses to have testified before the grand jury. The mayor and several city commissioners have already been questioned, too.

The probe is an appropriate answer to a scandal that has rocked the county seat to its cosmopolitan core. The grand jury must be vigilant about ferreting out any more wrongdoing, and Krischer must be as committed as he appears to be to prosecuting those wrongs in court. After West Palm Beach was so wholly blindsided by the Liberti scandal, it will take nothing less to restore dignity and trust to city politics.

BOTTOM LINE: The probe is the right answer and must be vigorously pursued.